Snapshots: Mark Stone won't suit up in final two games

PITTSBURGH — Mark Stone tried to make a comeback, but his season is officially over.

Troubled by a high-ankle sprain he suffered March 9 against the Calgary Flames, Stone will miss his 14th straight game Friday night against Pittsburgh at PPG Paints Arena and won’t suit up Saturday versus Boston in the season finale at TD Garden, either.

“He’s being shut down. He’s not going to play,” said coach Guy Boucher following the club’s 50-minute skate here Thursday. “He wasn’t very comfortable and he tried his very best to come back right until the very end. It’s not worth the risk, he’s not 100 per cent, so he’s done.”

Stone has been pushing hard the past 10 days, trying desperately to return to the lineup, but the reality is it’s not worth the risk because of the severity of the injury and the difficulty that he’s had recovering from it.

He wants to make sure he’s ready for his summer training regimen and training camp. Stone has stated that he’s leaning toward not playing for Canada in next month’s world championships in Denmark, which would mean he’d get lots of rest before camp in September.

Stone told reporters Wednesday before the Senators played in Buffalo that he thought he’d be back within days after the injury, but he tried skating and that didn’t go well. He took part in practice Thursday in Pittsburgh but certainly didn’t look like he felt right.

“He tried … he really did,” said Boucher. “He tried his very best and he didn’t bail out on his own, I can tell you that. It was an every day and every week looking at it. I know from Day 1 he thought, ‘Hey, I’ll be fine in a few days,’ and it didn’t go that way.

“It’s a high-ankle sprain, and I’ll be honest with you, apart from the surgery things that you deal with, that’s probably one of the worst because it looks fine and it’s not, and then it comes back. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a good high-ankle sprain in the sense that a guy comes back faster than you think ever. High-ankle sprains are awful.”

This isn’t the worst news for Stone.

“He wanted to come and help the team,” Boucher said. “He’s such an important player and really good leader for us now. He definitely showed everybody that he wasn’t just bailing out and avoiding the tough season and the end. He was here until today and he was disappointed. He wanted to come back at some point or another.

“Hey, but that’s the season we’ve had to live, and right to the very end we’re not getting any breaks.”

GABORIK GOES UNDER THE KNIFE

Winger Marian Gaborik met with a surgeon in Los Angeles on Wednesday and had surgery to repair a herniated disc Thursday.

Acquired in the trade that sent Dion Phaneuf to the Los Angeles Kings before the Feb. 26 deadline, Gaborik hadn’t suited up since March 22.

“Marian visited back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins on Wednesday at the Marina Spine Center in Marina Del Ray,” general manager Pierre Dorion said in statement. “Dr. Watkins determined the best course of action was to have surgery to correct a herniated disc in his back.

“The surgery took place earlier today and the medical team is happy with the results. Marian is expected to make a full recovery and our doctors have advised us that players have been able resume full training as soon as eight weeks after this type of surgery.”

There has been talk about the 36-year-old Gaborik’s future, and the belief is the Senators are leaning toward buying out the final three years of his contract.

That likely won’t happen during the buyout period in June after the Stanley Cup final because a player has to be healthy at the time he’s bought out, but that doesn’t mean the door is closed.

With Stone and defenceman Cody Ceci both set to become restricted free agents on July 1, all the Senators need is for one of those two players to file for arbitration to allow them to open up another buyout window.

The deadline to file is July 5 and Gaborik could be deemed healthy by then if the recovery from surgery goes as planned.

THE LAST WORDS

The Senators are adding a third town hall session, in which season-ticket holders will be able to ask questions to team owner Eugene Melnyk and general manager Pierre Dorion, on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at the Canadian Tire Centre. That’s because the first one Tuesday night at 7 p.m. has reached capacity. There’s also one Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. at the Ottawa Conference and Events Centre. … Goaltender Craig Anderson wasn’t on the ice for practice Thursday because he was given a maintenance day. He will make the start Friday against the Penguins, and the plan is to use Belleville call-up Danny Taylor in net for the final game Saturday in Boston. The 31-year-old Taylor hasn’t played an NHL game since Feb. 18, 2013 when he stopped 33 of 37 shots against the Arizona Coyotes while with the Calgary Flames. … There was no word on the status of captain Erik Karlsson, who is on personal leave. Boucher hasn’t ruled him out for the club’s final two games, but he’s not expecting him to play, either.

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